Zoo, Week 3

Welcome to Week 3 of the Online Book Club discussion of Zoo!

How did you enjoy this part? I have to say that I didn't enjoy all aspects of this section. I thought the part about Natalie's death was poorly handled, and I didn't think it was believable that Oz wouldn't have to serve some sort of jail time for his role in her death. What were his repercussions for having a murderous chimpanzee in his apartment? Wouldn't he get in trouble? Shouldn't that have been some sort of plot point in the narrative? Did you think it was believable that Oz could just move on from Natalie's death? Do you think Patterson should have gone into more detail before moving the action forward five years? 

It was also really hard to read the part about the boy, Chris, who is forced to shoot his family dog after it attacks him. Wasn't that so sad? I just can't imagine that. I understand that Patterson has to bring the animal attacks closer to home so that people will understand that they are real, but it's just sad and weird to think about beloved family pets suddenly becoming wild beasts that have to be hunted down. 

What did you think of the dolphin attack in chapter 58? Wasn't that really creepy? I hated imagining a bunch of happy dolphins jumping around and rejoicing in the fact that they caused a bunch of men to drown. These animal attacks just keep getting harder and harder to read. 

Were you surprised that the government didn't automatically take action on Oz's video?

What did you think about the fact that both Oz and Chloe had that nightmare about being attacked by bears? How do you think that happened? 

This section ends with Oz chasing after some neighborhood dogs and being confused when they just disappear. Where are they going? Are dogs banding together to take out humanity? How will this book end, do you think? Happily? Can there be any kind of resolution to this problem? 

If you want to learn more about James Patterson and how he can publish so many books a year, please check out this video from CBS Sunday Morning. It's really informative and gives more information about how he organizes the plots for all of his books. Please let me know what you think of the video if you watch it!

I hope you can finish the book by next week. (And that all of these animal attacks aren't giving you nightmares!)
